Skylight and rooflight fitting in Netherton
Terraced kitchens and Darby End lofts.
Roof windows for terraced and semi-detached lofts, rooflights for kitchens and bathrooms that borrow little daylight, each option set out beside its rivals. The survey at your Netherton house is free.
- Distance
- About 13 road miles west of central Birmingham
- Planning
- Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Housing
- Victorian and Edwardian terraces, interwar semis and post-war estate houses
- Roofs
- Slate and tile slopes, rear lean-tos and flat-roofed kitchen extensions
Starting points for a Netherton rooflight
A terrace in Darby End with a dark back kitchen?
A roof window or a flat rooflight can light the room without enlarging the window wall.
A semi on Primrose Hill with an unused loft?
A roof window can light a bedroom or study, subject to the rafters and the stair.
A bathroom with no window at all?
A small roof window or a sun tunnel brings in daylight, and the survey picks the better fit.
Terraces, slate and the choice of window
- Standard
- Conservation
On an older house the roof is part of the street, and the new window has to sit well in it. A standard roof window is the practical choice for most slopes. A conservation rooflight is the closer match for a period roof, with a slim frame and a low profile.
We put the two together on the quote where the roof allows, so you see the difference in look and in cost.
Standard roof window
- Look
- Modern frame, raised slightly above the covering
- Profile
- Sits a little proud
- Cost
- Lower
Conservation rooflight
- Look
- Slim dark frame, often with a glazing bar
- Profile
- Sits close to the slope
- Cost
- Higher
The terraced house and its back kitchen
A Victorian or Edwardian terrace has a narrow plan, and the kitchen at the back is often the darkest room, with one window and a neighbour's wall close by. If the kitchen sits in a rear outrigger or a lean-to, the roof over it is a short slope or a shallow flat roof, and that is the place to put daylight in.
On a pitched lean-to the slope itself usually takes the roof window. Over a kitchen with a flat roof, a kerb can carry a compact lantern where there is height, or a flat rooflight where there is not. Both bring light from above, where no neighbour can block it. In a narrow room, a single long rooflight along the wall can wash the whole length of the worktop, while a lantern gives more height but needs a wider room to look right.
The survey takes in the room underneath along with the roof, and each unit is drawn on the quote at whatever size best suits the space. Our flat rooflight sizing guide shows how room width and rooflight width relate.
Heard on a measuring visit
My terrace roof is slate. Can a roof window go in it?
Slate roofs accept a roof window fitted with a flashing kit designed for that covering. The slates around the opening are lifted and relaid, and we check their condition first, because old slates can crack when they are moved. If some need replacing, the quote says so.
- Slate or tile condition checked
- Flashing kit matched to the covering
- Window size fitted between the rafters
Lofts above semis and estate houses
Interwar semis and post-war houses in Netherton often have a roof with a plain, steady pitch and space for a loft room. A roof window is the way to light it. The usual layout puts one or two windows on the rear slope, away from the street, and keeps the front slope as it was.
A two-storey house gets its escape from a protected stair when the loft is converted, so the roof window supplies daylight and fresh air. Our loft conversion roof window guide covers where the windows go, and your builder agrees the stair.
A north-facing back kitchen
Terraces are built in rows, so the back kitchen of one house often faces the same way as its neighbours, and a rear that faces north gets steady but modest light. Clear glass lets in the most of it. Solar control coatings reduce the light a little and are rarely needed on a north-facing slope.
Where the sun does reach the roof in the afternoon, a blind or a tinted pane keeps the kitchen from overheating. The direction the roof faces is noted when we survey, and the glass on the quote is chosen to match it. Our page on energy efficient rooflights explains the glazing choices that keep the room warm in winter.
A rooflight over a worktop also changes the glare on the surfaces below, and a frosted or lightly tinted pane can soften it. The quote can list that as a separate option.
Glass for a back kitchen
Clear glass
- Light
- Brightest
- Heat
- Passes more sun
- Suits
- A north-facing roof
Solar control
- Light
- Slightly reduced
- Heat
- Less sun gets through
- Suits
- A south or west roof
Bathrooms, landings and rooms with no wall to the outside
| Item | Roof window | Sun tunnel | Flat rooflight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it fits | A room directly under a slope | A room with a loft or roof space above | A room under a flat roof |
| Light | Bright, with a view | Soft and even | Broad and even |
| Fresh air | Opens | None | Only if it opens |
| Privacy | Obscured or blinded as you choose | Good | Good |
A sun tunnel is the smallest disruption to a roof, and a roof window gives the most. The quote shows both where the roof allows, and our page on a sun tunnel or a skylight explains the trade-off.
Dudley decides, and what the work involves
- Planning
- Work
The council and your address
Netherton is a town in the borough of Dudley, and Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council makes its planning decisions. Under permitted development, many roof windows and rooflights go in without a planning application; the conditions that apply are listed in our rooflight planning guide.
A listed building in Netherton would need listed building consent before any rooflight goes in, however permitted development would otherwise read. Separately, an Article 4 direction, or a condition carried over from an earlier consent, can take that right away from a house. We look up the address, report what turns up, and prepare the drawings should an application be needed. The council decides.
Heard while measuring up
Do I tell Building Control, or do you?
That falls to us whenever the job is notifiable. A new opening in a roof and a whole replacement rooflight are both notifiable, and you receive the certificate once the work is signed off.
Keeping the roof weathertight
Reuse the slates
- Look
- Matches the existing roof
- Risk
- Old slates may crack
Replace around the opening
- Look
- Slightly different shade at first
- Risk
- Lower, with new slates
Slates that have weathered
A slate roof that has been in place for a long time has a particular colour, and new slates set around a new opening can look a different shade from the weathered ones beside them. If the old slates are sound, we reuse them, and if a few crack as they come off, we replace those and tell you at the time.
Reclaimed slate may be an option where the colour matters, and the quote can list it separately so you can compare it with new slate. A tiled roof raises similar questions, and the flashing kit has to match the tile profile in either case.
- Fan or vent position agreed
- Blind or obscured glass chosen
- Room below protected during the work
A rooflight over a steamy room
A bathroom or kitchen makes more moisture than other rooms, and a glass surface above it is the coldest point in the room. Moisture meets the cold glass and can form condensation on the inside. An opening rooflight, a fan and a well-sealed unit all help, and none claims to stop condensation outright.
We agree with you where the fan or the opening vent goes before we cut, and we discuss whether a double-glazed unit with a warm edge spacer is the better choice for the room. Our rooflight condensation page explains what is normal and what is a sign of a problem.
Replacing an old rooflight or a plastic dome
Some Netherton houses already have a rooflight, often a plastic dome over a kitchen or a bathroom extension that has yellowed or cracked. Swapping the plastic for glass brings more light and a warmer room, and the new unit meets Part L 2021, where an existing dwelling must reach 2.2 W/m²K for a rooflight.
Where the frame is sound but the glass has misted, a fresh sealed unit can be all that is needed, and our misted rooflight replacement page explains how to tell. Should the whole unit have failed, replacing it with a new frame and glass counts as notifiable work, and the notification is ours to deal with. Our 10-year workmanship guarantee protects the whole job, and the unit keeps its own warranty from the maker.
Covering Netherton: Darby End and Primrose Hill
We work across Netherton, including Darby End, Primrose Hill and Windmill End.
Nearby places we cover
Netherton homeowners ask
Is a roof window allowed on a Netherton terrace?
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council handles the planning applications that come from Netherton homes. Plenty of roof windows come within permitted development, and the conditions attached to it are explained in our rooflight planning guide. Your address is checked first, which brings any listing, Article 4 direction or condition on the house to light before you commit to a unit.
How can I bring daylight into a back kitchen?
Through the roof above it. A pitched lean-to suits a roof window, while a flat roof suits either a flat rooflight or else a lantern of modest size. The quote compares the units that suit your kitchen.
Do slate roofs cost more to fit a window into?
Slate takes more care, because the slates around the opening are lifted and relaid. The cost depends on the condition of the slates and on whether any need replacing, and the quote states it.
Can a roof window go over a bathroom without being overlooked?
Obscured glass or a blind gives privacy, and the roof angle keeps the view upward. A roof window sits above eye level in many bathrooms, and we position it at the survey with that in mind.
When is a sun tunnel better than a roof window?
When the room has a loft space above it, little wall to the outside and no need for a view. A sun tunnel needs a smaller opening and costs less to fit, though it does not open. Our hallway sun tunnel page shows an example.
What does Part L say about a replacement rooflight?
For an existing dwelling, a rooflight is required to achieve 2.2 W/m²K, and a roof window has to meet the window standard of 1.4 W/m²K, or Band B on the Window Energy Rating scale. A whole replacement is notifiable work, so a Building Control notification follows, and we send it.
Can I see more than one maker on the quote?
Where the roof allows, yes. The quote lays out suitable units from more than one maker. For each of them it sets out the glazing, the frame style, the opening type, then the lead time and finally the price, so the weighing happens on paper before you decide.
What should I tell you before the survey?
Tell us which room is dark, whether the roof is slate or tile, and whether there is an existing flat roof or lean-to. A photograph of the roof from the garden helps. We measure everything on the day, and the quote reflects what we find.
Will lifting slates harm the rest of the roof?
Not when it is done carefully. We lift only the slates around the opening, check each one, and relay the sound ones with new fixings. Any that crack are replaced, and the quote notes it.
Can a kitchen rooflight be cut into an old felted flat roof in Netherton?
A kerb is fixed to the roof structure and the new covering is taken up to it, so an older felt roof is usually re-covered around the rooflight. The quote shows the rooflight and the covering work as separate lines, which lets you compare it with your roofer's price.
Is Netherton within your area?
Going west from the centre of Birmingham, Netherton is some 13 road miles away, well within our 30-mile area. Book a free survey and we visit your home.
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